Copy 1 

_,_,£ CONDITIONS 
IN RURAL ALABAMA 



First-Hand Information from 
High School Pupils. 



A PAPER 



PREPARED FOR THE LAST MEETING OF THE | 

ALABAMA LAND CONGRESS AND READ BY 

REQUEST BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF 

RURAL SCHOOLS OF THE ALABAMA 

EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION, 

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, 

APRIL 2nd, 1915. | 



J. B. HOBDY | 

Rural School Agent 
Montgomery, Ala. . 

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\*c 



0. of D. 
NOV 21 1913 






INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT 



At the 1915 session of the Alabama Educa- 
tional Association, Mr. J. B. Hobdy, Rural 
School Agent, read a paper before the Depart- 
ment of Rural Schools in which he set out the 
living conditions that prevail in rural Ala- 
bama. 

The spirit in which the paper was received, 
the very interesting facts and situations pre- 
sented, and the resolution unanimously adopt- 
ed calling for its dissemination, persuade me 
that it should be given wide distribution 
among the general public. 

It goes forth, therefore, in the hope that it 
may enlighten and enliven all those who 
would make country life in Alabama more liv- 
able and likable. 

Sincerely, 

WM. F. FEAGIN, 

Supt. of Education. 



June 22, 1915. 



LIVING CONDITIONS IN RURAL 
ALABAMA 



y53>]HE work of the Alabama Land Congress, 
K^J so far as it deals with questions per- 
j taining to land values, desirable set- 
tlers, the high cost of living, the grow- 
ing of various field crops and improved live 
stock, and the training of ears which will heed 
the "call of the soil," is a complex educational 
problem touching every phase of rural life. 
The school, the home, the church are unques- 
tionably potent factors in the uplift which is 
anticipated in the plans which the organization 
has already or may hereafter outline. The 
field, the highways, the market, and transpor- 
tation are some of the factors to be considered 
along with the school, the home, the church. 
All educational, sociological, and economic in- 
fluences are determining factors in giving to 
country life a country civilization, and such is 
the demand of the times if the "call of the 
soil" is to be heeded by those now dependent 
thereon. 



If the home and its environment determine 
the civilization of the community and are the 
prime factors which make for happiness and 
contentment, it is well to pause for a while 
and make a critical study of those conditions 
influencing the home from without as well as 
from within; those which make for discontent- 
ment as well as contentment; those environ- 
ments which are conducive to happiness as well 
as those which are destructive of it. 

Prosperity, contentment, and intelligence are 
as essential to rural as to urban happiness. 
Prosperity is measured by the ability of the 
individuals of the home to produce and con- 
serve wealth, which ability comes as a result of 
thought, energy, and thrift. The intelligence 
of the home is the thermometer which records 
the practicability of education acquired either 
by study or experience. Contentment is that 
indefinable something which is not a gift, was 
never inherited, and cannot be bought. It is a 
little short of happiness, and close kin to sat- 
isfaction. It is the keystone of all the virtues 
that make for the happiness of the home. 

Living conditions in the rural districts are 
such as add to or take from man's happiness. 
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The father, the mother, the young man, the 
young woman, the boy, the girl, the tenant and 
landowner are affected thereby. Those condi- 
tions which most affect the pecuniary phases 
of living are the ones which interest most the 
man of the farm. The search for material 
gain is then the anchor which holds the aver- 
age farmer to the farm. Contentment must 
possess the good woman of the home, else she 
is apt to become a force to sever the cord 
which holds the anchor that binds the husband 
to his country home. In this progressive age, 
intelligence determines the estimate the young 
man, and the young woman, the boy and girl 
place on rural life and is the chief factor in 
their contentment. 

FIGURES FROM CENSUS REPORTS 

The Digest of the United States Census for 
1910 discloses a few facts which are worth our 
consideration in this connection. During the 
decade 1900 to 1910, Alabama's incorporated 
towns show an increase in population of 25%, 
while the rural population increased during 
the same period only 16%. The urban popula- 
tion in 1890 was 10.1% against the rural pop- 
ulation of 89.9%. A decade later the urban 
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population was 11.9% and the rural population 
was 88.1%, showing 1.8% increase in favor of 
towns. However, the past decade shows an 
urban population of 17.3% and a rural popula- 
tion of 82.7%, an increase of 5.4% in favor of 
the incorporated towns. 

Cities of 2,500 or more increased 55.9% in 
population while the rural population increased 
only 11.1%. In comparison with the growth 
of the United States as a whole Alabama cities 
increased considerably more and her rural sec- 
tion some less. 

If it is true that the birth rate in the rural 
districts is greater than in the urban sections, 
it is evident that some of the gain in popula- 
tion in the urban sections is being made at the 
expense of the country districts. That there 
are reasons for such a condition you need not 
be told. The movements made from country 
to town and city are in no small part prompted 
by a spirit of discontentment, and in search of 
happiness. 

THE PROBLEM 

Observation leads me to proclaim that the 
rural problem is not so much a problem of 



father and the farm, but of the mother, the 
children and the home. It is really a problem 
of making country living satisfactory to the 
mother and her boys and girls. 

A question, of the nature of the one I am 
discussing, is one about which too much has 
been written from a theoretical standpoint, 
and too little from facts at first-hand, and in 
dealing with it, one is likely to magnify ex- 
treme cases as they are used in presenting real 
conditions. In order that I may not be guilty 
of that fault, I have secured first-hand infor- 
mation from high school pupils of several 
homes in practically every county in Alabama. 
The information was secured through the as- 
sistance of the principals and teachers of the 
various county high schools and district agri- 
cultural schools of the State as well as from 
a few rural high school teachers. 

SOURCE OF INFORMATION 

Four hundred two questionnaires were mail- 
ed to the principals of the above named 
institutions. Six copies were sent to each, with 
the request that they be given to pupils attend- 
ing their schools from farm homes, three to 

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boys and three to girls, that a copy be given to 
no pupil who lived at a distance less than three 
miles of an incorporated town, and that the 
teacher assist only to the extent of explaining 
the meanings of the questions. 

I had a three-fold purpose in seeking infor- 
mation of high school pupils. First, I believed 
the rural problem to be a problem of the child 
and mother and especially for the child; sec- 
ond, those pupils who attend high schools are 
usually from the best rural homes and I 
thought would give conditions affecting the 
better classes of homes, therefore not exagger- 
ated; third, I desired high school pupils because 
they could answer the questions intelligently 
and without assistance. 

PROPOSED LIFE WORK 

Three hundred forty-nine of the four hun- 
dred two questionnaires were returned, almost 
all of them with answers in full. Of 312 re- 
plies to an inquiry as to the pupils proposed 
life work, 146 said that they intended to teach; 
52 said that they would farm; 38 would enter 
professional work; 33 would follow industrial 
occupations other than those on the farm; 72 

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were undecided. It is significant to note that 
of the 146 who would enter the teaching pro- 
fession, only 45 desired to teach in the country. 

Back of these answers are doubtless reasons 
which must be charged against rural life. In 
order that we may be able to plan remedies for 
undesirable conditions, it becomes necessary 
for us to know the condition and the cause 
therefor. 

WORK IN THE HOME 

Much has been written about the drudgery 
worn housewife — the self-sacrificing mother. 
It is upon her shoulders that many of our re- 
cent writers have placed the responsibility for 
the deserted country home. I believe that my 
search for information along these lines will 
show to what extent many of the wives and 
mothers are justified in being dissatisfied with 
home conditions in the rural districts. 

The replies show that 215 of the mothers in 
the 349 homes do all the house work including 
washing, ironing, cooking, scrubbing, and va- 
rious other household duties and, in some in- 
stances, manual labor on the farm. Forty-five 

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reported that all the work except washing is 
done by mothers and daughters; 63 have wash- 
ing and ironing done for them; 10 do all the 
work except ironing and cooking; 9 others re- 
ceive help in some phase of house-work, and 
only 7 of the 349 have all the house-work done 
by hired help. 

The distances from the kitchen to the well 
range from a few feet to 440 yards. The aver- 
age distance of the farm wife from her water 
supply is 81 feet. Twenty-eight of those re- 
porting say that water is carried by hand 300 
feet or more; 51 reported water carried 150 
feet or more, while only 9 or less than 3% re- 
ported running water in the kitchen. Of those 
reporting, 59 said that water was carried 
through pipes or by troughs to the horse lot 
and to the kitchen in buckets by hand. Only 
two reported the reverse, that is that water 
was carried to the kitchen through pipes and 
to the stock in buckets. Three hundred nine 
reported that water was carried to the kitchen 
by hand and very few indicated a well on the 
porch. 

The handling of the kitchen supply of water 
is by no means a small consideration when we 
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are brought face to face with the fact that for 
an average family, it requires at least four 
two gallon buckets per meal or twenty-four 
gallons a day, to be drawn from the well, car- 
ried 81 feet to the kitchen and handled at least 
three different times, making a total of 131 
tons handled during the year. If these figures 
are too high, the water for the weekly wash 
added 52 times will certainly make them con- 
servative. Most of this handling is done by 
the farmer's wife and it is only a small part of 
her daily occupation for 365 days in the year. 

Of nine labor saving devices which might be 
had in every home at comparatively small 
cost, the reports show that 150 of the 349 
homes have only one of them; 90 have two; 53 
have three; 31 have four; 11 have five; and 2 
families have seven of these devices. The av- 
erage number of nine labor saving devices and 
conveniences, including sewing machines, is 
1 2/3 to the family. 

Answers to a similar question relative to 
seven improved farm implements and labor 
saving devices for the farm work showed that 
there was an average of 4% for each father's 

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use. In other words, where the woman has one 
convenience for her work, the man has more 
than three. 

Of the 215 who reported washing done by 
their mothers, 134 stated that it was done in 
the open without the protection of a shelter; 
72 said that they have overhead shelters; only 
five reported specially prepared rooms for 
washing; and five failed to answer the ques- 
tion. 

DISTANCES AND THE ROADS 

Three hundred twenty-four of 349 replies 
indicated the distance between church and 
home to be from 100 yards to nine miles. The 
average distance is a mile and three quarters. 
One hundred seventy-five of 332 replies re- 
ported church service once a month. The av- 
erage number of services in the churches men- 
tioned was 21 per year and the mother aver- 
aged attending 13 a year. 

Two hundred seventeen of the 349 report- 
ing, stated that they lived on or within a quar- 
ter of a mile of a good road; 125 reported an 
average distance of six and a half miles from 

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a good road and seven said that there were no 
really good roads in their counties. 

HOLIDAYS AND RECREATION 

One hundred thirty-seven of the 175 boys 
who reported on the number of holidays had 
by them during the months of May, June, July ' 
and August of the past summer, gave an av- 
erage of less than one-half day per week; 32 
of the 137 reported only one day during the 
four months; and nine reported not a single 
holiday during that time. 

One hundred ninety-two of the 349 said that 
there was no kind of organized recreation in 
their communities for children under 14 years 
of age; 157 said that children of that age 
sometimes came together for some simple out- 
of-door recreation. One hundred forty-eight 
of 346 replies indicated social entertainments 
in their respective communities for boys and 
girls between the ages of 14 and 18; 198 spoke 
to the contrary. One hundred thirty-six of 
349 replies stated that there were social en- 
tertainments for young men and young women, 
212 said there was nothing of the kind in their 
communities. 

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THE GIRL AND FARM LABOR 

Of 160 replies, from 174 girls, to a question 
seeking information as to the kind of farm la- 
bor done by them, 93 reported that they hoed; 
81 picked cotton; 6 plowed; 11 did farm work 
other than that named above; 4 did every kind 
of work that is done on the farm, and 14 failed 
to answer the question. 

SOME SANITARY CONDITIONS 

One hundred nineteen of 284 answering the 
question, stated that there were no closets at 
the school last attended by them; 5 said that 
there were closets for the girls only, and 64 
failed to answer the question. 

One hundred eighty-four of 334 reporting, 
knew of homes within visiting distance of their 
homes, that were not provided with closets. 

Seventy said that their homes were screened 
throughout; 100 reported homes screened in 
part; 160 reported no screens, and 13 failed to 
reply. 

These reports often indicated the location of 
the only well to be in or near the horse lot. 
This is no doubt convenient for watering the 
stock, but of necessity unsanitary. 

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READING MATTER 

Two hundred, of the 349, reported some kind 
of a library at home; 66 reported no books; 29 
reported only a few and 54 failed to answer 
the question. The average number of volumes 
in those homes reporting libraries is 67. 

Newspapers of various types were reported 
as being received in the country home. The 
reports showed 256 receiving daily, or semi- 
weekly or weekly editions of daily papers; 
210, county weeklies; 139, farm journals; 55, 
magazines and monthly papers of the maga- 
zine type; 46, miscellaneous papers and maga- 
zines of an unwholesome character; 20, chil- 
drens' journals; 12, educational journals; 9, 
political and 6, fraternal journals. Only 5 
families are reported as receiving neither pa- 
pers nor magazines. The average number of 
papers and magazines recived for the family 
is 2.9. 

OBJECTIONS TO COUNTRY LIFE 

In answer to the question, what is your chief 
objection to country life, 81 said the schools; 
54 named the highways; 40 said poor church 
facilities; 50 others named social disadvan- 

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tages; 11 thought the lack of opportunity for 
success the greatest drawback; 5 said the work 
was drudgery; 4 others gave various reasons 
and 160 either failed to reply or stated that 
they found no objection. 

Believing the school to be the chief factor of 
country life, in the country living problem, I 
requested these pupils, who as high school pu- 
pils were having a broader view and a wider 
horizon, to state the greatest defect in the ru- 
ral schools last attended by them. A few of 
them named two defects. A summary of the 
replies is as follows: 83 reported poor equip- 
ment; 47, lack of interest and cooperation on 
the part of patrons; 43, incompetent teachers; 
32, shortness of term; 18, crowded condition of 
building; 26, too few teachers for the number 
of pupils and grades; 26, poor attendance; 14, 
lack of gradation in the schools; 39, poor 
buildings; 39 others gave various defects, in- 
cluding sanitation, location of building, high- 
ways, and water supply. The keynote of the 
situation was given in the replies of nine who 
said, "the frequent changing of teachers/' and 
of seven who said, "a course of study which 
fails to stress industrial education." Que six- 

J3 



teen year old girl spoke more wisely than she 
knew when she said, "some rural teachers are 
not fitted for rural teaching." 

SUGGESTED REMEDIES 

The following is a summary of replies to 
the question: "If you were a leader in the 
rural districts and desired to make country life 
more attractive to the young people, along 
what three lines would you suggest improve- 
ment." Better roads, 137; better schools, 187; 
more amusements, 180; better churches and 
more frequent services, 123; better agricul- 
tural methods, 59; better homes with labor 
saving devices, 101; introduction of organized 
play, 70; establishment of rural libraries, 47; 
miscellaneous, 13. There were five replies, 
each containing one of the following means of 
remedying conditions: Local taxation; com- 
pulsory attendance upon school; consolida- 
tion of schools; introduction of the teaching of 
domestic science; the development of commu- 
nity leaders. One young American of thirteen 
years prescribed wisely when he said, "I would 
introduce the Boy Scout and Camp Fire Girl 
movements. I would see that there were more 
books in the country for the young people to 

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read. And I would organize athletic clubs and 
give the boys time to play." Truly the red 
blood of the American youth will not stagnate, 
and when "nothing is doing' in the country, he 
will seek it elsewhere. 

Because a boy is born in the country, he need 
not necessarily be confined thereto, he should 
be allowed freedom of choice of life work and 
encouraged in his preparation for that work. I 
speak for the boy who would remain on the 
farm and who, undecided as to life's work be- 
cause, as one young fellow reports, "the only 
thing for a fellow in the country is hard work 
and no fun." 

In connection with the above, I quote from 
Dr. W. H. Wilson, who knows the American 
boy, his inclinations and his rights. "Boys 
are natural resources. They can be worked out 
as soil, can be impoverished by forever exact- 
ing the same thing of them and never fretiliz- 
ing them with play. Country boys need rota- 
tion of experiences, as soils need rotation of 
crops. Boys leave the farm because they are 
made work cattle. They eat and sleep in the 
house but they work like the horse," 

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A remedy for this problem as it bears on 
boys and girls is suggested by Dr. William 
Beadshear, who says: "I honestly believe 
that where young people have left the farm 
for causes other than those usually springing 
from natural changes of profession or voca- 
tion, other household virtues proving equal, 
one hundred dollars a year spent in papers, 
and books, and games, and amusements would 
save four-fifths of the young people of the 
farm to virtue and the farm." 

THE FATHER AND MOTHER 

I shall not discuss conditions surrounding 
the father on the farm, further than to say 
that his interests are too often centered in 
yields and prices. Yields are improving with 
him. He is gradually having his eyes opened 
to the possibilities of the soil as he observes 
demonstration methods. In time he will find 
in community cooperation a more satisfactory 
and remunerative method of marketing his 
products. 

There is rest for man and beast on the farm 
for at least one day out of seven. The daily 
toil usually ends for them with the setting of 

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the sun, and night brings rest. The work of a 
woman in the home never ends. She may stop 
for a while to answer nature's demand for rest, 
but the beginning of another day confronts her 
with the same series of endless duties. 

When a wife and mother has expended her 
energy and strength and has destroyed her 
nervous equilibrium she has disqualified her- 
self for such nobler duties as companionship 
to husband and children, and aiding in the 
social uplift of her community. Relief can come 
to her only through a knowledge of how to 
save time and strength. Thanks to the inge- 
nuity of the human mind, there are devices 
which may be had and methods of procedure 
which may be followed in the home which will 
result in the saving of time and energy. 

The drudgery and constant grind of house 
work can and should be reduced by labor sav- 
ing devices, cooperation in the family re- 
sulting in a division of labor, convenient gar- 
dens and wood piles, running water in the 
kitchen and by various other means. Such 
remedies must be had, thereby giving mothers 
time for social intercourse and self-improve- 

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ment and removing from them the monotony 
and isolation which of necessity has been theirs 
in the past. The life histories of too many 
farm wives and mothers are summed up in the 
first line of Hamlin Garlan's poem, "Born and 
scrubbed, suffered and died." 

The hardships of the mother on the farm 
are shared in part by the girls in the home. 
From the reports submitted, numbers are com- 
pelled to assume the burden of field work, la- 
bor to which they are unsuited, under which 
their more delicate mechanisms cannot hold 
out, and which in their creation it was not 
intended that they should do. 

CONDITIONS ARE IMPROVING 

The farm is no place for drones, there is 
work for every member of the family; but leis- 
ure for self improvement and recreation is 
just as essential as is the work. Reading cir- 
cles, social gatherings, organized play and 
movements conducive to contentment are find- 
ing places in the lives of rural folk. 

As sanitary campaigns are being waged 
throughout the length and breadth of the 

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State, the deadly housefly and disease carry- 
ing mosquito are being eliminated from the 
homes by screening. 

The supply of drinking water is being more 
carefully guarded, sanitary measures are be- 
ing taken to prevent soil pollution, and grad- 
ually thousands of our people, slaves to con- 
tinuous ill health, are being relieved through 
simple sanitary practices. 

It is a reflection on our civilization that such 
a gross violation of one of the first laws of 
sanitation and decency should continue around 
some of our public schools as does exist be- 
cause of the absence of closets. How any self 
respecting teacher can get his or her consent 
to direct a school unprovided with necessary 
outbuildings, is more than I can understand, 
unless, of course, he proposes and does reme- 
dy the defect. Some steps should be taken by 
county boards of education which will forever 
remove such conditions from their respective 
counties. 

EDUCATION THE SOLUTION 

I have endeavored to discuss this subject 
from the position taken at the outset, that a 

24 



solution to the problem may be had through 
education. However, that education must be 
one which will bring forth results from the 
field, the home, the school and the church; af- 
fecting health, crop yields, cooking, sewing, and 
social intercourse; one in which minister and 
teacher must take more than a passive inter- 
est and which will develop leaders of the people 
from their own numbers. 

A solution is possible when every phase of 
country life has been touched by such educa- 
tional methods as are now being injected into 
it by the farmers cooperative demonstration 
work for boys and men on the farm, and girls 
and women in the home; by the State health 
department through its health campaign; and 
indirectly by the national government through 
its rural free delivery system. The bettering 
of the school grounds and buildings through 
the efforts of the good women of Alabama in 
their school improvement associations, and the 
building of good roads, which work is being so 
wisely directed by the State highway commis- 
sion, are factors in this new education which 
will be felt in the school itself as it trains the 
child for the life it must live. This new edu- 
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cation must stress the importance of hand 
training along with head training, leading the 
child to know that there is dignity in labor 
intelligently directed. 

Living conditions in rural Alabama, bad as 
the evidence of these high school pupils picture 
them to be, are no worse than in a number of 
other States. For the past twelve years it has 
been my privilege to come in personal contact 
with rural life, and primitive as conditions may 
now appear, wonderfully progressive strides 
have been made. The educational situation in 
the rural districts has undergone marked im- 
provement during that time. For this im- 
proved condition and for the present advance, 
credit must be given the educational forces of 
the State under the leadership of the State 
and county superintendents of education. The 
greatest of their great services has been to 
improve the State's rural school system. 

A REVISED SLOGAN 

To the slogan of the Alabama Land Con- 
gress, "A billion dollars added to the landed 
wealth of Alabama," let us add, "fifty per cent 
of the drudgery removed from the shoulders 

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of rural Alabama womanhood, and one hun- 
dred per cent added to the happiness and con- 
tentment of the boys and girls on her farms." 



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LIBRARY OF 



CONGRESS 



027 292 599 9 ! 



